Women-only gym opens in Pompano Beach

Courtney Wittenberns and her father Roger Wittenberns at their new “Oxygen… (Mike Stocker, Sun Sentinel )

May 31, 2013|By Miriam Valverde, Sun Sentinel

It seems fitness runs in the Wittenberns family.

Courtney Wittenberns, daughter of the founder of Lady of America fitness centers, has opened her own women-only gym in Pompano Beach: Oxygen Fitness for Her.

Her father, Roger Wittenberns, who worked in the industry for decades and built a multi-million-dollar company, said he'll aid her as a consultant and mentor.

"If … I see her making a left, and I know there's bad stuff out there, I can tell her 'no, make a right,' because I've been there," the Fort Lauderdale resident said.

Before retiring and selling his business around 2004, Lady of America fitness centers boasted about 1,300 outlets in several countries and more than 1 million members, Roger Wittenberns said.

Now, his 23-year-old entrepreneur daughter seeks to continue the family tradition of providing a comfortable outlet for goal-oriented women who want to better themselves — without feeling pressured to impress men working out nearby.

"You don't have to put on makeup to come to this gym," said Courtney Wittenberns, who lives in Pompano Beach.

And she's bringing in a new concept to the market.

Oxygen Fitness pumps 97 percent pure, medical-grade oxygen into the facility to help women stay alert and energized during their workouts, said the younger Wittenberns, who studied kinesiology at Florida Atlantic University and worked at gyms before opening her own. "It's a pure source of oxygen."

A ribbon-cutting center for the facility was held Thursday night, though the center first opened in March. It's drawn about 500 members so far.

Carol Harvey of Pompano Beach has been going to Oxygen Fitness since it opened, she said. It's the first time she has held a gym membership.

"I thought it was time to improve my lifestyle, my health," said Harvey, 38. "I already lost one size."

Gym memberships have risen during the past decade, according to a recent report by IBISWorld, a California-based industry research firm. Nationwide, gym membership is expected to surpass 52.6 million this year, a leap from the 46.4 million members in 2003, according to IBISWorld.

Though the industry took a hit in 2008 and 2009 as people cut back on spending, it's remained resilient and is diversifying with the opening of more small-scale and women-oriented gyms, the firm found.

Motivational phrases are written on the blue-and-white walls of the facility. In a bathroom, one of them reads, "Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it."

The 4,000-square-foot gym features high-tech touch screen treadmills where women can watch live TV, stream Netflix videos or go on Facebook or Twitter while burning calories. "You can tweet you're here working out," Wittenberns said.

Screens on the treadmills also take women on virtual journeys through trail paths in New Zealand, France, Germany and other places. In the upcoming months, Oxygen Fitness plans to reward women who complete a predetermined number of trail runs with a round-trip flight to the destination.

Under construction is an additional 2,000-square-foot outdoor space for CrossFit training. The workout program includes weight-lifting routines and endurance exercises. Wittenberns hopes the outdoor space will be ready within a month.

"We consider Oxygen to be an 'O,'" she said, "and we want to complete that circle with as many services as possible."

The Wittenberns project the new gym will generate $100,000 in profits per year. Roger Wittenberns said they plan to be in South Florida for a long time — they signed a 11-year lease for the Pompano location.

"This is the beginning of something big in Courtney's career," he said.

Franchising opportunities will soon become available, he added. The fitness-driven family said they want to take Oxygen Fitness into more residential communities like Pompano Beach.

Courtney Wittenberns said Oxygen Fitness "is a dream come true" and hopes women will take the initiative to lift what she called the heaviest piece of equipment at the gym, "the front door."